North
Pacific Marine Science Organization,
PICES
PICES is an intergovernmental scientific organization. It was
established in 1992 and its present members are Canada, People's
Republic of China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation,
and the United States of America. The purposes of PICES are to
promote and coordinate marine research in the northern North Pacific
and adjacent seas especially northward of 30 degrees North; to
advance scientific knowledge about the ocean environment, global
weather and climate change, living resources and their ecosystems,
and the impacts of human activities; and to promote the collection
and rapid exchange of scientific information on these issues.

UN
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific,
ESCAPWithin the Water
Resources Programme under its Environment and Natural Resources
Development Division, the UN ESCAP organizes seminars and workshops
on various issues relating to water resources, including: Water
resources assessment; Integrated water resources development and
management; Protection of water resources, water quality and aquatic
ecosystems; River basin development and management; Promotion
of infrastructure development and investment for drinking water
supply and sanitation; Water pricing and promotion of private
investment in the water sector; Water demand management, water
saving and economic use of water; and Mitigation of water-related
natural disasters, particularly flood loss reduction.

UNEP
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,
ROAP
Working closely with the Division of Regional Co-operation and
Representation in UNEP's Nairobi-based headquarters, the Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) looks to adopt global environmental
policy to regional priorities and needs. It acts as a catalyst,
co-ordinator, facilitater and mobilizer of resources. It puts
particular emphasis on building partnerships with regional and
sub-regional intergovernmental fora, other UN agencies, national
governments, NGOs, the private sector, academic and research institutions,
and civil society, and the media. See also here.

Financial
institutions

Asian
Development Bank, ADB
The Asian Development Bank, a multilateral development finance institution,
was founded in 1966 by 31 member governments to promote the social
and economic progress of the Asia-Pacific region. It now has 58
member countries - 42 from within the region and 16 non-regional.
ADB gives special attention to the needs of the smaller or less-developed
countries, and to regional, subregional, and national projects and
programs. Promoting sustainable
development and environmental protection is a key strategic
development objective of the Bank. (See also about environment.)
To fulfill this objective, the Bank (i) reviews the environmental
impacts of its projects, programs, and policies; (ii) encourages
DMC governments and executing agencies to incorporate environmental
protection measures in their project design and implementation procedures,
and provides technical assistance for this purpose; (iii) promotes
projects and programs that will protect, rehabilitate, and enhance
the environment and the quality of life; and (iv) trains Bank and
DMC staff in, and provides documentation on, environmental aspects
of economic development. The Asian
Development Fund (ADF) is the concessional lending window of
the Bank.

Action
programmes, strategies and research

Northwest
Pacific Action Plan, NOWPAP
China, Japan, Russia and Korea share a common sea. This shared resource
also requires co-operative management. UNEP through its regional
seas programme is assisting the four nations in developing pollution
control and disaster response in the shared ocean environment. The
goal of NOWPAP is the wise use, development and management of the
coastal and marine environment so as to obtain the utmost long-term
benefits for the human populations of the region, while protecting
human health, ecological integrity and the region's sustainability
for future generations. As
the core center for initiating the cooperation among the countries
and regions involved for the environmental protection in the Sea
of Japan and Yellow Sea, the Northwest
Pacific Region Environmental Cooperation Center (NPEC) was
established in 1997. It became a public service corporation under
the Japanese Environment Agency in 1998 and was also designated
to be one of the Regional Activity Centers of Northwest Pacific
Action Plan in 1999. NPEC functions as Special Monitoring and Coastal
Environmental Assessment Center for NOWPAP. See
also below - Nautilus.

Partnership
in Environmental Management for for the Seas of East Asia,PEMSEA
A GEF project, focusing on "building partnerships within and
among governments of the region, as well as across public and private
sectors of the economy. The goal is to reduce or remove barriers
to effective environmental management, including inadequate or inappropriate
policies, disparate institutional and technical capabilities and
limited investment in environmental facilities and services".
PEMSEA is "based on two management frameworks developed and
tested in an earlier GEF Project: Integrated coastal management,
addressing land-water interactions and the impacts of human activity
in coastal areas; and risk assessment/risk management, applying
to subregional sea areas and the impacts of human activities on
marine ecosystems. See also the PEMSEA
Updates, a free online newsletter.

UNEP
Regional Seas ProgrammeThe
Regional Seas Programme was initiated in 1974 as a global programme
implemented through regional components. The Regional Seas Programme
is UNEP's main framework in the field of the coastal and marine
environment. It includes 14 regions and three partner seas, involves
more than 140 coastal states, and focuses on sustainable development
of coastal and marine areas. Each regional action
plan is formulated according to the needs and priorities of
the region as perceived by the Governments concerned. Regional
conventions are in place for several areas. See a map
of all regional seas, and go to more information on the Black Sea,
Wider Caribbean, Mediterranean,
East Asian Seas, South Asian Seas, Eastern Africa, Kuwait Region,
North West Pacific, Red Sea And Gulf of Aden, South East Pacific,
North East Pacific, South
Pacific,Upper
South West Atlantic, andWest
and Central Africa. The UNEP Regional Seas web site also contains
information on What's
at stake, Major
threats, and Actions.

State
of the regional environment

Environmental
problems in the Tumen Region
The Tumen Region is host to a range of unique but threatened environmental
resources that are of regional and even global significance. They
include the Tumen River and its tributary system, as well as coastal
wetlands and offshore areas like 'Peter the Great Bay'. The region's
fragile ecosystems include steppe and temperate forests that are
habitats of the endangered Siberian tiger, the Amur leopard, the
Mongolian gazelle and several species of crane, to name just a few.
Economic development in the Tumen Region is starting to impact on
these unique resources, and further commercialisation has the potential
to worsen significantly the pollution of international waters and
degradation of the region's biodiversity. Main threats are from
the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources such as timber
and fossil fuels, new transport and communication lines that cut
across the habitats of endangered species, and environmentally damaging
construction. Population growth and urbanisation are increasing
the demand for water, food, energy and construction materials, and
could result in the loss of wetlands caused by lower water tables
and changing land use patterns. Environmental degradation not only
results in the loss of environmental assets of regional and global
significance, but can also lead to the eventual destruction of important
sources of income and growth, such as tourism - including ecotourism
- if they are not managed in a sustainable and environmentally responsible
manner.

a global environmental assessment process, the GEO Process,
that is cross-sectoral and participatory. It incorporates regional
views and perceptions, and builds consensus on priority issues
and actions through dialogue among policy-makers and scientists
at regional and global levels.

GEO
outputs, in printed and electronic formats, including the GEO
Report series. This series makes periodic reviews of the state
of the world's environment, and provides guidance for decision-making
processes such as the formulation of environmental policies,
action planning and resource allocation. Other outputs include
technical reports, a
web site and a publication for young people.

GEF
Projects in the region

Projects
under implementation

UNDP
- GEF - International waters:Preparation
of A Strategic Action Programme (SAP) and Transboundary Diagnostic
Analysis (TDA) for the Tumen River Area, Its Coastal Regions and
Related Northeast Asian EnvironsThe purpose of this project is to prepare a Transboundary
Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) and a Strategic Action Programme (SAP)
for the Tumen River Economic Development Area. The implementation
of the SAP will assist in the implementation of the Memorandum of
Understanding among the Tumen River Area Development Programme member
states by integrating and applying sound land and water resource
management strategies. The implementation of the SAP will also entail
a number of interventions focused on the conservation of biodiversity
designed to obtain national, regional and global benefits, with
GEF financing their incremental cost. The SAP will provide a common
framework for the identification and formulation of strategies,
programmes and projects, responding primarily to transboundary issues
of environmental management. See
also the project
web site!

Other
actors, initiatives and resources

Nautilus
Institute for Security and Sustainable DevelopmentA policy-oriented research and consulting organization. Nautilus
promotes international cooperation for security and ecologically
sustainable development. Programs embrace both global and regional
issues, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Nautilus produces
reports, organizes seminars, and provides educational and training
services for policymakers, media, researchers and community groups.
A number of papers
on marine environment, sustainable development and environmental
cooperation in Northeast Asia can be found on the web site.

The
Sea of Japan - a Large Marine Ecosystem(LME)A
Large Marine Ecosystem,
LME,
is a "region of ocean space encompassing coastal areas from
river basins and estuaries to the seaward boundary of continental
shelves and the seaward margins of coastal current systems. It is
a relatively large region characterized by distinct bathymetry,
hydrography, productivity, and trophically dependent populations."
See also Rhode Island University map
of LMEs.